Automobile motor-starter.



0. J. WIDMBR. AUTOMOBILE MOTOR STARTER,

I APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1911,.

1 ,05 1 ,9'76. Patented Feb. 4, 1913 4 smfms-snnm 1.

HIIIIHHIIHNHIHHIHIIHHNIHI awuemtoz fiarlas J Widmg 5% y 72 [M7 6mm,

v G. J. WIDMER.

AUTOMOBILE MOTOR STARTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.16.1911.

Patented Feb. 4, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEE'I 2.

\ QM 'o (Zarles JWz'dmer 28mm 0 7% W #A/ Snow) 0. J. WIDMER. AUTOMOBILEMOTOR STARTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16. 1911. 1,051,976. Patented Feb. 4, 1913.

4 SHEETS-$112111 3.

C. J. WIDMER. AUTOMOBILE MOTOR STARTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.16.1911.

Patented Feb. 4, 1913.

6' v avwwntoz Wad/files J Widme/t QM/mum Fig.

UNITED :sTATEs-PATENT OFFICE.

. I CHARLES J. WIDMER, F FRANKLIN, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMOBILE MOTOR-STARTER.

A pplication filed August 16,1911. Serial No. 644,863. t a

To all LthO/IZ it may concern: Be-it known that I, CHARLES J. VIDMER,

a citizen of the. United States, residing at- Franklin, in the county of,Venango and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsin Automobile l\Iotor Starters; and I do declare thefollowing to be a full. clear, and exact de A scription of theinvention. such as will enable others skilled in the art. to which itappcrt-ains to make and use the same, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters and tigures'of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in automobilemotor starters of the type in which a compressed medium of etl'oi't onthe part of the automohilist.

To the aboveends the device is simple and durable mconstruction, andconsists in certain details'of torm. combination and arrangeineiit, ailoi which Will he more lullv" described in the following specificationand particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure .l is a vertical, longitudinal viewthrough the t'or ward part of an automobile howing my iiivention appliedthereto: Fig. .Sis a vertical longitudinal sectional view through thestarter proper on the line of Fig. 3;

:5 is a section on the line lili of Fig. l ig. -l is a section on theline c---c of Fig. 3: Fig.5 is a top plan view of the clutch and itsoperating devices; Fig. (i is a vertical longitudinal sectional viewt'l'ii'ongh the controlling valve; Fig. 7 is a front elevation,partially in section, of the air compressor; Fig. 8v is a side elevationof-t-he same; Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view on th'eline '(l-dof Fig. 10, showing a modified torin of air coinpressoryl ig. 10 isafront ele\-'ation of the same; and Fig. 1 1 is a detail view of one ofthe clutch members. Referring in detail to the drawings, and

particularly to Fig. 1,1 represents the fran e on which a motor of an"automobile Specification of Letters Patent.

'ing 10.

naled on the shaft 13, thereof hasa bearing Patented Feb. 4 ,"1;913.

mounted, 3 represents the radiatoig i the hood, 5 the dash board, (3 thefloor and 7 the seat. These various elements, are..-well known parts ofan automobile, to any type of which my invention may be a p1ied..; At-.tached to, the frames, 1 at the ,fgrw-ard :end of the machine is abracket. 8 winchsupports the starter, The mechanism thereof 'is inclosedwithin'a housing 10,and au cylinder 9 secured to the bracket 8. 'Theshaft I'Iofthe engine. 2 is attached, by'ineans of a coupling 12, to ashaft 13 journaled in bearings 11 in the cylinder 9 and the-hous-Splined to the shaft 13, and ,lying within the housing 10, is a clutchmember 14 which. cooperates with a similar clutch member 15 on a pistondisk 1& The

clutch members 14 and 15 may be ofaany well known type. or may be.constructed with engaging pins 17 which arechamfered on their outer endsasis shown in the-drawings. The piston disk 16' is-treely jour and theperiphery in the cylinder 9. Attached to the piston disk 16 is an oscillating piston 18 which lies between an inner cylinder 19 and the outercylinder tlnflThe piston 18 is provided with packing 20 pressed againstthe. cylinders 9 andEI'Q-by means of springs 21. The piston 18=osciltales in the cylinder S) and within saidieyh inder is a rigid divisionwall'23 which may he n-ovided with aekin 24 andusectired l p s in ])Ult-l()ll by screws 25. The wall-23 is provided with a port it: which isconnected, with a source otcoinpressed air or gas by a tube 27; 'hen thecompressed gas. is

Icaused to enter the port- 26, it expeiids-its energy against thepistong 18. thereby driving said piston in the direction of the ait-1'o,\v until it reaches the position shown in dotted lines in Fig.3,'when the fOlUW't he gas is expended through exhaust openings '29 inthe cylinder 5). The piston 18 is' returned to its normal position, t rthat'sl-iowii'i in. full lines in Fig. 3, by a spirahspring 29, theinner end 30 of which is attached to a hub 31 on the piston disk 16, andthe other end tllof which is attached tO'CtlIG.

inner side of the inner cylinder 19. The: spri'ngQS) is wound up duringthe moveinent i'ng. The movement oft e' a spring35.

-ment of the piston by a catch .41.

either direction is arrested by bumper springs 48 attached to the wall23. During the return movement of. the piston, the gas in the frontthereof escapes through a port 'clutch member 14 is normally held out ofengagement with the member 15 by a latch 33 pivotcdat 34 and partiallycontrolled by The latch 33 is in engagementwitlrithe upper end of alever 36. pivoted at 37, and the lower'end of which is bifurcated andprovided with shoes 38 which ride= in a :groove 39 in the clutch member14. Attachedto the upper end of the lever 36 is a spring 40 which throwsthe-xclutch member 14 in engagement with the member: 15 when the latch'33 releases the lever36. The latch 33 is actuated to release the lever36 during the initial mgye he catch 41 is pivoted at 42 to the piston'disk 16, and is partially controlled by a spring 43 which allows thecatch to pass the latch whenthe piston is returniri to a normal hascompleted position. WVhen the piston its forward movement, or thatindicated by the arrow in F ig: 3, the clutch members 14 and l5 aredisengaged by a cam 44 mounted 4 The source.

tube and controlling the '45 on an arm=45 extending from the piston.disk 16. The cam 44 is adapted to engage:-

a recess 46. in an arm 47 extending from the: lever 36 to move. saidlever against the ten sion of the spring 40 and to disengage theclutch.of compressed gas consists of a'tank 51'which may bedocated beneath theseat 7 of or at any other convenient 'poin-t on the automobile. The tank51 is connected with the port 26 in the wall 23 by the tube 27 beforereferred to. Connected into the. passage of the gas from the tank 51 tothe starter, is a controlling valve constructed as follows: Mountedbelow the floor 6 of the automobile, or at any other point such as thedash-board 5, is a valve housing 52, shown in detail in F igl 6. Thishousing may be placed vertically or horizontally, and is provided withports 53 and 54 which receive adjacent ends of the tube 27. The port 53enters a chamber 55, while the port 54 enters a chamber 56. The chambers55 and 56 are separated by a valve 57 adapted to be opened by aprojection 58 on a piston valve 59. At-

tached to the valve 59 isa stem 60 which extends i'out througlrthe floor6, or dash board .5 and is provided with ahead 61.

" Surrounding the stem 60 is a spring 62 I which normally holds theprojection 58 out of engagement with'the valve 57. The head i 61 is aapted to be depressed or actuated by the foot of the automobilist, andwhen so actuated, the projection opens the valve 57 and permits thecompressed gas to pass from the tank 51 to the starter, and

ort 49 in the cylinder 9 bythe tube 50 efore referred to. The pistonvalve 59 controls the ports 63 and 64, and is provi ed with a groove 65which allows the gasor air in front of the returning piston to escapethrough the port 49, tube 50 andports 63 and 64. When the 'gas is thusescaping, the valve'59 is in a normal position, but when said valve isactuated to open the valve 57,-the openings 63 and 64 are closed by saidpiston'valve 59, thereby W preventing the compressed gas whichisentering the cylinder 9 through the port 26 from escaping through thetube 50. When the piston has reached the end .of its for ward movementand the motor has been started, the operator releases the valve 59, andthe spring62 returns said valve to a, normal position, thereby openingthe ports 63 and 64 and permitting the gas on the forward side of thereturning piston to escape to the atmosphere.

The compressed air or gas may be sup- 1 plied to the tank .51 by anoutside source, or from a compressor carried byt-heauto mobile, andwhich may be constructed as follows: Attached to the base of the motor-2 is a bracket 66 which is secured to a casing 67 of an air compressorshown in detail in Figs. 7 and 8. Depending from the casing 67 is a lowressur'e-cylinder 68 and a high pressure cylinder 69. The cylinders 68'and 69 are provided with valve housings and 69 are provided with inletand exhaust chambers 72 and 73 which coiiperate with inlet and exhaustValves 74 and 75. The inlet chamber 72 of the low pressurecylindercommunicates with an air inlet-76 provided with a multiplicity of airscree 77. The exhaust chamber 73 of the low pri ssure cylindercommunicates with the inlet chamber of the high pressure cylinderthrough *a tube 78. The exhaust chamber '73 of the high pressurecylinder communicates with the tank 51 through a tube-79. The air isfirst compressed in the low pressure cylinder and then in the highpressure cylinder 70 and 71 respectively. The housings 68. a

before being delivered to the tank 51, which insures sufficient pressurebeing accumulated to operate the starter. Reciprocating in the cylinders68 and 69 are pistons 80 and .81 respcctively which are connected to awalking beam 82' by links 83. 'The beam 82 is pivoted at 84 and isprovided with a slotted arm 85 which receives a sliding block 86 on acrank 87. The crank 87 is mounted engagement with the member and G9 aremounted in axial alincment, and

extend from opposite sides of a casing 91.

I Journaled in the casing 91 is a shaft 92pmvided with a crank 93 whichcarries a sliding block 91. The block 91 reciprocates in a crosshead 95to which the pistons 80 and 81 are attached. The cylinders 68 and 69 inthis construction are provided with valve housings 70 and 71 similar to.the valve housings in the construction shown in Figs. 7 and 8,

The operation of the device is as follows: lYith the parts in theposition shown in the drawings, the tank 51 has been supplied withcompressed air from the air compressor or from outside sources, and whenit is desired to start the motor 2, the automobilist places his foot onthe head 61, which opens the valve 57 and allows the compressed air topass through the tube 27, and through the port 26, into the cylinder 9where it exerts itself against the piston 18. During the initialmovement of the piston the catch 41 releases the latch 33, and thespring 40 shifts the clutch member 14 into 15. During the continuedmovement of the piston 18, the shaft 11 of the automobile motor will berotated sufi iciently to start the same. Also during the continuedmovement of the piston, the spring 29 is wound up and when the pistonreaches the end of its movement or the position shown in dotted lines inFig. 3, the piston willstop, as the compressed gas will escape throughthe exhaust ports 28. W hen the piston reaches the end of its movement,the. camel: engages the orifice 4} in the arm 47 and actuates thd lever36 to disengage the clutenanembersil l and 15, thereby preventing the,momentum of the moving parts of the automobile motor being communicatedto the piston 18. While the piston 18 is moving forward, the,compressedair in the cylinder 9 is -prevented from escaping through the tube 50 bythe piston valve 59, andwhen the piston has finished its forwardmovement, the auto'mobilist releases the head 61, which allows the valve57 to close, and the ports 63 and 64 to open, which permits the air toescape from in front of the returning piston. The piston is thenreturned to its normal position by the spring 29, and is then in aposition for the operation to be repeated.

Without limiting myself to the precise arrangement shown and described,which may be varied within the scope of the claims, I claim:

1. In a" device of the type specified, a motor and the shaft thereof, anoscillating piston operatively connected to said shaft, a cylinder inwhich said piston is mounted, a clutch controlling said operativeconnection, and means controlled by said piston and adapted to throw insiid clutch during the initial movement of said piston, and meanscarried by said piston to throw out said clutch at the end of themovement of the piston, and means for supplying compressed gas to saidcylinder to drive said piston and to start said motor.

2. In a device of the type specified, a motor and the shaft thereof, anoscillating piston operatively connected to said shaft, a cylinder inwhich said piston is mounted, a clutch controlling said operativeconnection, a lever adapted to actuate said clutch, a spring )artiallycontrolling said lever, a latch adapted to engage said lever and to holdsaid clutch in a disengaged position, a catch carried by said piston andadapted to engage the latch to permit the spring to set the clutch, anda cam carried by said piston and adapted to unseat said clutch,and'means for supplying compressed gas to said cylinder to actuate saidpiston and to start said motor.

3. In a device of the type specified, a motor and the shaft thereof, anoscillating piston operatively connected to vsaid shaft, a clutchcontrolling said operative relation, a lever adapted to actuate saidclutch, a spring connected to said lever and adapted to set said clutch,a latch adapted to engage said lever and to hold said clutch in anopened position, a catch carried by the pis ton and adapted to engagesaid latch to set the clutch during the initial movement of the piston,a cam carried by said piston and adapted to engage said lever to unsetthe clutch at the end of the movement of the piston, a-cylinder in whichsaid piston is mounted, means for supplying compressed gas to saidcylinder to move said piston in one direction to start the motor, and aspiral spring attached to said piston and adapted to move said piston inthe opposite direction. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, inpresence of two witnesses. CHARLES J. WIDMER.

Witnesses:

C. B. A. LANGE, PETER EMMICKE.

